Agartala: Self-styled journalist Saikat Talapatra, already in jail for spreading canard and unverified news items in his online media outlet “News Independent”, was once again sent to Police custody in connection with a fresh case under The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Special Public Prosecutor Samrat Kar Bhowmik said.
TIPRA Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarman filed the case against Talapatra for publishing derogatory content against the indigenous community. “The voice samples of the videos have been examined, and it has been established that the message that he wanted to disseminate through his videos is far away from news. All his videos are found to be motivated against a particular section of the society and detrimental to the longstanding peaceful co-existence of the tribal and non-tribal communities in Tripura,” Bhowmik told media persons.
When asked about the charges he had been facing, Bhowmik said, “Trials for as many as five cases are running at par against him. The fifth case in which had been held accused recently is framed under ST SC atrocities Act apart from other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code.”
Talapatra had been sent to six days of police custody. He would be once again produced before the Court on November 2.
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Talapatra was arrested from Bengal and brought to Agartala on October 6. The arrest was made just a couple of days after news stories were published against Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, linking his name to several irregularities. Some news stories also raised questions about Dr Saha’s moral character. The police had seized his bank accounts and also tried to trace the people who had funded him.
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